Όποιος έχει πολύ πιπέρι βάζει και στα λάχανα

Archive for May 2009

To close you in that golden cage, I wouldn’t. Many at times have suggested what a golden cage is and this one is pretty accurately. Firstly because it is a cage. To ghetto us from them and them from us. And secondly because it is golden. Golden taps, golden doors frames, mirros, golden lamps, golden handles. I walk in the solemn rooms and I hear the echo of my breath. First you will walk in a filthy room, torn carpets, coffee-like stains in the walls, old scrapped marble, to be fingerprinted and photographed. They say something, you don’t get it, right-left-thumbs, tapping on the camera, you look. Flash! No smile. You don’t give it and they don’t expect it. Cross the borders. McDonalds.

I open the cupboards one by one. Five packages of cereals, all at 375grams. One box of chocolates, at convenient sizes of 30 grams. One box of sneakers. One box of kitkat. Coffee, tea bags, instant cappuccino. Two kilos of sugar. Six tins of baked beans. Six tins of tuna. Two kilos of Danish cookies, six boxes of springles chips, two paprika, onion-sour cream, cheese. Fridge. Three liters of milk, five jars of marmalade, two loafs of fake toast bread, two packages of fake cheddar cheese slices, four yoghurts, four liters of juice. Six packages of instant noodles. Soft drinks. Fruit bowl on a small table in a vastly barren echoing kitchen. Water bottles. Steel door.

Door after door, sealed with more steel doors, I enter the panic room on the first floor to check the supplies. Tins, rope. Turn your mobile in silent mode if they come. The possibility of something happening during this period is minimal; we are all friends currently. Airco. Everywhere.

Olive Group’s Security Operations wing deployed security teams led by ex-special forces soldiers to guard employees and assets. Additionally, Security Operations personnel trained and mentored local national guards to enable them to carry out close protection tasks either independently or as part of an integrated expatriate/local national team.

The procurement and selection of a fleet of low and high profile armoured vehicles, all of which were fitted with tracking systems. This enabled vehicles to be tracked at all times, and dedicated rapid reaction teams to be deployed immediately in the event of a panic button being activated.

The provision of secure accommodation, including catering, high speed internet communications and all other life support essentials.

The coordination and management of convoys for the movement of extremely high value equipment. This entailed liaison with local and national government to enable the utilization of military ground and air support. All convoys managed by Olive Group had full tracking systems embedded, as well as a sophisticated medical response capability.

The provision of detailed crisis management and business continuity planning, designed to enable the client to continue operations, meet project timelines and work to budget when its competitors were forced to halt operations as the security situation deteriorated.

“Olive’s ability to keep our key personnel in country at times when other organisations were forced to evacuate their staff meant that our productivity increased compared to our competitors. We become notably more popular with the local government and national ministries by being able to demonstrate commitment to them. This was down to Olive – their support was far more than that of a subcontractor. They became a mission critical part of our organisation and one of the most important parts of our entire business strategy. ” Client Quote